June 7-8, 2008

"Because It Is There..."

That was the only answer I could give...

For many years, John and I have talked about hiking the
Humphrey's Trail, to the top of Humphrey's Peak - the tallest peak in Arizona.
There have always been different factors, though, to prevent us from doing so:
too out of shape, not the right season, don't have a babysitter for the kid,
don't have a free weekend, etc.

This year, we made it a point to do it. This year, we
were going to hike Humphrey's.

And when people asked us why, the only answer I could give
was, "Because it is there..." They must think we're nuts.

We are nuts, but that's another story...

To hike Humphrey's, John and I had to make a lot of
arrangements. First of all, we consulted John's calendar and looked for
a weekend where we didn't have any family, skydiving, or work commitments,
before the summer monsoon season began. That turned out to be the
weekend of June 7, 2008. Then, we arranged for Erika to watch Mary for
the weekend, from Friday night to Sunday afternoon. She agreed, so the
next step was to figure out where to stay in Flagstaff. Initially, we
thought about camping near Hart's Prairie, so that we would be close to
Snowbowl; then, we wised up and decided to book ourselves into a hotel.
(John Coffman helped us out with that; he booked us a room at the Radisson, on
Route 66.)

Since we were going to be in Flagstaff, we decided to ask
John Coffman and his wife Jan Banka to join us on our hike. Jan was a
definite "no" - she claimed that she just wasn't in shape to do the hike.
John, on the other hand, was a "maybe"; he could do it, but he wasn't sure
about the weather. No matter what they decided, though, they wanted to
meet up for dinner on Saturday night, after we were done with our hike; that
was a definite "yes".

The weather during the spring had been very odd.
After a very wet winter, in which Snowbowl opened earlier than usual,
springtime proved to be equally wet. The high country received another
good dousing of snow in March, then another in April. And just when we
thought that the winter-like weather was over, another storm hit the mountains
right before Memorial Day weekend...a week before our hike.

Which meant that there would be plenty of snow on the trail
for our hike. Great. On top of that, the weather forecast
called for high winds, becoming increasingly higher as the day progressed.
That didn't sound very promising. Having heard that, John (Coffman)
decided that he wasn't going to hike with us. In fact, we were beginning
to question our choice of hikes. After hemming and hawing a bit, though,
John (Verley) said, "Well, let's just do it."

Somehow, I knew he was going to say that.

On Friday evening, John and I left work early so that we
could beat the rush hour traffic heading out of town. We met up at home
around 4:00 p.m., and we were on the road by 4:20. Unbelievably, we had
very little traffic - just a few brake lights through the construction and up
to the Carefree Highway, but after that, it was smooth sailing all the way to
Flagstaff.

We arrived in Flagstaff at 6:30 p.m. on the dot, much
earlier than expected. Instead of heading straight to the hotel, though,
we decided to do a little geocaching first, since we had plenty of daylight
left. We found three caches along Milton Avenue, including one that we
had looked for before but couldn't find because of
the snow cover. (It was much easier to find without the snow!)

After claiming those three caches, we made our way to the
hotel to check in. Once we were settled in our room, we kicked back,
relaxed, and did what any couple would do in a hotel room on a kid-free
weekend (if you know what I mean, wink wink.)

Later that
evening, we decided to go out for a walk, to help us acclimate to the high
elevation. We walked about a third of a mile to the Barnes & Noble at
the corner off Milton Avenue and Route 66 and spent about an hour browsing
through the books. On the way back to the hotel, we stopped off at the
hotel bar and had a glass of wine - just a little nightcap before bedtime.
Then, we retired to our room...

The next morning, we awoke
at 5:00 a.m. and prepared for our hike. Knowing that we were going to
encounter wintry conditions - snow and wind - we dressed accordingly in long
pants and long-sleeved shirts; and we brought with us two jackets and a pair
of gloves each. I also put on my "bub" - a tubular scarf that I received
from the Breast Cancer
3-Day last year; this would protect my ears from the wind. We then
packed up our Camelbaks with an arsenal of high-energy snacks and our lunch -
more food than we would normally bring with us, but we would need it.

Our
plan was to be out of the hotel by 6:00 a.m.; but since we were kid-free, we
were efficient, so we were ready to go by 5:45. As a result, we arrived
at Arizona Snowbowl earlier than planned, at 6:15 a.m. Since we were so
early, Snowbowl was not yet open for the day; that meant that we had to park
at the alternate trailhead. That was going to add a third of a mile,
each way, to our hike. Nothing major.

We stepped onto
the trail at 6:25 a.m. and began our long trek to the summit of Mt. Humphrey's
- a distance of 4.8 miles one way and 3,333 in elevation gain. The trail
began with a short, quarter-mile jaunt through a beautiful meadow, with views
of the lodge at Snowbowl. The meadow was cut with ski-lift poles and
cables that ran through it, perpendicular to the trail. This was the
easiest part of the trail.

At the end of the meadow, we
entered the forest - a thick grove of pines and aspens. There were lots
of downed trees along the trail; most of them had been cut away so that they
no longer blocked the trail. We were grateful to see this; John
commented about how difficult the trail would have been if we had had to jump
over logs!

As the trail began to switchback, higher and
higher, we began to find small patches of snow. At first, these patches
of snow were off to the side and did not lie in our path. Above 10,000
feet, though, the snow became thicker, though, at that point, it was still
easy for us to pass through it.

Up to 10,000 feet -
for the first 1.5 miles of the trail or so - we were hiking at a pretty good
pace (maybe 1.5 to 2 miles an hour). The patches of snow above 10,000
started to slow us down a little bit, but we expected to slow to about a mile
an hour. The idea was to maintain a moderate pace so that we didn't tax
ourselves too early in the hike. We also took frequent breaks to eat our
high energy snacks, which gave us that boost that we needed to keep going.

When
we reached 10,700 feet, the trail conditions worsened. Between 10,700
and about 11,400 feet, the trail was almost completely covered in snow, and it
was several feet thick. Navigating through the snow was very difficult.
Although there were plenty of footprints for us to follow, most of them were
frozen - and thus, slippery. I burned up a lot of energy trying to
maneuver through the snow without sliding all over the place, and that slowed
us down considerably.

After a number of jokes about me being
allergic to snow, John finally decided that I should stop; there was no sense
having me kill myself. At 11,000 feet, we found a nice resting area for
me to stop and wait for him. There, we tested our iPhones to make sure
that we had signal; surprisingly, we even had Edge Network, which meant that I
would be able to keep myself entertained with YouTube and the Internet until
he returned.

John hadn't even been gone a whole fifteen
minutes before he called me. I thought that he was just checking in;
instead, he was calling to let me know that he had reached an area where the
trail was clear of snow, not more than a quarter of a mile ahead of me.
If I felt up to it, I should try to do it. I did want it bad enough, so I
resolved to do it. I gathered up my hiking gear and my courage and set
off to join John up the trail.

The remaining quarter-mile
hike through the snow was still rather difficult, but that ten-minute rest
helped a lot. I hiked through the snow to the next switchback and found
John waiting for me at the top. From there, we hiked together for
another tenth of a mile, to a point where the trail curved around the
mountain, to the sunny side. As promised, the snow disappeared, leaving
us free to pick up our pace again.

We soon came to a section
of the trail where the switchbacks became shorter, signaling that we were
getting closer to the saddle and the treeline. There, we had stunning
views of Snowbowl and all of the ski runs; we also had beautiful views of
Flagstaff. We could see Hart's Prairie and
Kendrick Mountain (been
there, done that...twice) as well. Just to
be there to see all of that made the difficulty of the hike worthwhile; I was
so glad that I didn't quit.

As we approached the treeline,
the winds began to pick up. It had been windy during the majority of our
hike, but being in the trees, we didn't feel it as much. Without the
trees to protect us, we were at the mercy of the elements; and it was just
going to get worse the higher we climbed.

Around
10:45 a.m., we finally reached the saddle, at an elevation of 11,800 feet.
We were almost there! Just knowing that we were so close to the summit
was exhilarating, and that gave us the energy to keep going.

From the saddle to the summit, it was another forty to sixty minutes.
During that time, the sense of camaraderie between us and all of the other
hikers attempting to climb the peak was amazing. We were all there to
help each other out, whether it was with directions or with a warning about
what lay ahead. Noticing that we were first-timers on the summit, one
couple prepared us for the hike ahead:

"Follow the sticks;
they are the trail markers," they said. "On the trail, you're going to
come to three false summits before you reach the actual summit. It's
very frustrating the first time you do it."

After the
saddle, above the treeline, the trail became extremely rocky as it climbed
steadily along the ridgeline on top of the San Francisco Peaks. Had it
not been for the high winds that blasted us along the way, the hike would not
have been too difficult at all. True, it was a steep climb, but it
wasn't the groaner that we thought it was going to be.

Or
maybe we were in better shape than we believed.

The
views from the trail was breathtaking, and not just because the air was thin
up there. From the ridgeline, we could see the
Inner Basin of the San Francisco
Peaks (been there and done that,
too...twice)
and Lockett Meadow. There was also more snow - not on the trail this
time, but along the sides of the mountain. The snow-pack looked like
mini-glaciers, with wind-blown peaks on them. It was quite beautiful.

Halfway to the summit, John began to get a headache - he was getting the first
signs of altitude sickness. He conquered it right away by taking a
couple of Advils, drinking a lot of water, and eating a high-energy snack.
I, on the other hand, felt great; I had gotten my second wind after my ordeal
with the snow, so I was hiking strong.

Once we passed the
third false summit, we were ready to summit...if we could. We were
warned by other hikers descending from the summit that the winds were so
fierce that they weren't able to stand up. One hiker had to crawl down
from the peak. Up to that point, the winds had been gusting to about
forty miles per hour; as we hiked along the final ridgeline to the summit,
they were getting stronger, gusting to about sixty miles an hour. Then,
as we made that last push up to the peak, the winds were so brutal that we
were knocked off of our feet. We attempted to crawl through the rocks to
the top; I made it within fifty feet but had to stop short of the summit for
fear of being blown off of the mountain.

John
continued towards the summit without me. As he approached the top, he
was stopped by a hiker who warned him that there were shelters up there; he
recommended using them. When John reached the summit (12,633 feet), he
found those shelters; they were walls of rocks, built up to act as a
wind-break. He immediately ducked into one and began to snap pictures of
his surroundings; he also sent three text messages - one to me, one to his
father, and one to John Coffman.

Meanwhile, I began
making my way down the trail towards the ridgeline to safety. Since I
couldn't stand up, I had to crawl down the slope on my butt in order to
descend safely. It was very awkward, but it worked. Even after I
reached the ridgeline, I found it difficult to stand up; the winds were still
very fierce and they knocked me down the first time I attempted to stand.
The second time, I was able to stay on my feet, so I hiked as fast as I could
to the false summit to wait for John.

Once we were reunited,
the two of us began to make our way down the ridgeline, back towards the
saddle. Having accomplished our goal, our main concern now was to get
out of the wind as soon as possible. The winds were just getting
stronger and more dangerous, so we needed to get out of there.

Around 1:00 p.m., we arrived at the saddle; there, we stopped to take a long
break so that we could eat our lunch and rest. We still had a long hike
ahead of us - and that included that long stretch of trail that was under the
snow pack - so it was important for us to refuel and re-energize.

Upon leaving the saddle, we dropped below the treeline once again, giving us
some relief from the high winds. Unfortunately, the damage was already
done; the winds had blown so much dust into my eyes that I was now having
trouble seeing. A thin film had formed over my eyes, and it was sort of
like having cataracts. That made it very difficult to watch out for all
of the hidden dangers on the trail, like loose scree.

Oh, yes, I missed the loose scree completely...and down I went, landing flat
on my butt and hitting my elbow on a large rock.

The
fall knocked the wind out of me and completely shook me up. it was a
whole five minutes before I could move again, and even then, I moved
cautiously, for fear that I had broken something. Fortunately, the only
injuries I had were bruises, so I was soon back on my feet again. Before
we could continue hiking, though, I decided that I needed to remove my contact
lenses, in hopes of clearing the film from my eyes. I placed them in one
of the two extra bottles of water that we had brought along with us...and
after I did so, I realized that I shouldn't have done that, because I had two
different prescriptions and had no way of telling the two lenses apart.
D'oh!

Removing my contact lenses didn't do me much good; I
still had a thin film covering my eyes, and that made the rest of the hike
quite difficult. I dreaded hiking through the snow pack without the
ability to see clearly. My only saving grace was the fact that the snow
had melted a little bit because of all of the other hikers that had tramped on
it, so it was slushier and easier to walk on. Of course, that didn't
stop me from falling several more times on my rear!

Once we
were past the snowpack, our hike went much smoother, and we were able to pick
up the pace a bit. Around 4:15 p.m., we received a phone call from John
Coffman, who wanted to confirm that we were still on for dinner. He made
reservations for us for 6:30 at Charley's at the Weatherford in downtown
Flagstaff, so that he could take me on a trip down memory lane. (The
last time we were at Charley's, three years before on my 35th birthday, I had
gotten a Pepsi dumped on me.) I guess that's why we call him "Uncle
Evil."

At 5:00 p.m. on the dot - after ten and a half hours
of hiking - we finally arrived at the trailhead! Oh, was it a sight of
sore - and nearly-blind - eyes! After dumping our hiking gear into the
trunk, we climbed into the car, and I fished out a bottle of Naphcon-A
(anti-allergy) eye drops from my purse. We weren't sure if they would
help rinse the dust from our eyes, but it couldn't hurt either.

We drove back to our hotel room at the Radisson, where we immediately stripped
off our nasty, dirty hiking clothes and took a well-earned hot shower, which
felt wonderful on my sore bruises. We then dressed in something clean
and appropriate for dinner at Charley's. Finally, at 6:15, we limped out
the door to meet John and Jan.

As usual, we had a wonderful time having dinner with John and Jan at
Charley's. We swapped hiking stories, skydiving stories, and travel
stories for several hours. Eventually, John and I began to fade.
John and Jan recognized that we were wearing down and suggested that we call
it a night.

John and I slept heavily that night; and when we awoke the next morning, we
felt surprisingly good - that is, except for all of my various bruises that
hurt to touch. We probably could have done another hike, if we didn't
have to get back to Phoenix to pick Mary up.

After getting dressed, we packed up our bags and checked out of the hotel.
On the way out of town, we stopped for breakfast at the Village Inn (one of
our favorite breakfast stops in Flagstaff). By 9:00 a.m., we were on the
road, heading towards Phoenix. We picked the perfect time, too, because
we managed to avoid the usual Sunday traffic jam on the I-17! That said,
we pulled into the driveway at Bill and Erika's house at 11:00 a.m. on the
dot.